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An Aliquippa district judge recused herself Tuesday from two criminal cases against an Aliquippa assistant police chief, delaying the preliminary hearings that were scheduled to begin in the Beaver County Courthouse.
District Judge Janet Swihart did not state a reason for her recusal, but allowed the court’s record to reflect that she stepped aside because she presides over the district court in Aliquippa where Assistant Chief Joseph Perciavalle III, 43, brought cases until he was arrested in June and suspended from the department.
“The court thought there might be some signs of impropriety,” said Steven Townsend, the assistant chief’s attorney. “If she’d have tossed out some or all of these charges it might have looked like she was in favor of my client; if she allowed these charges to be held... it might have looked like she was trying to protect prior Chief [Don] Couch.”
Assistant Chief Perciavalle was charged in June with sending an obscene video in a text message to then 17-year-old Lauren Watkins, daughter of Aliquippa police Sgt. Kenneth Watkins.
Ms. Watkins, now 18, was one of the last people to see teacher Rachael DelTondo alive before the 33-year-old was shot to death on May 13, and the text message from Assistant Chief Perciavalle was discovered when authorities searched her phone after the killing.
The video, which depicted a woman urinating while swinging in a park, was sent to Ms. Watkins and her parents in a group message, according to a criminal complaint.
Mr. Townsend said Tuesday that Ms. Watkins does not want to pursue the charges against Assistant Chief Percivalle, and said she will testify that authorities threatened her as they investigated the text message.
“Lauren, who is supposed to be the victim in this case, will testify that she was threatened, that if she did not cooperate, they were going to arrest her father,” he said. Mr. Townsend would not name the people or person who made the threat, but said they suggested they would arrest Sgt. Watkins for failing to report the sexually explicit text message to state authorities as child abuse.
Police officers are mandated under state law to report suspected child abuse.
Mr. Townsend declined to further discuss the matter until the preliminary hearing.
Ms. Watkins, Sgt. Watkins and Assistant Chief Perciavalle declined to comment. Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier, whose detectives brought the charges against Assistant Chief Perciavalle, declined to comment. Acting Aliquippa police Chief Robert Sealock did not immediately return a request for comment.
Acting Chief Sealock previously recused the department from investigating Ms. DelTondo’s killing. Sgt. Watkins, who was placed on leave after the slaying — at the time Chief Couch said it was to avoid any conflicts of interest and because Ms. DelTondo was a close family friend — returned to work nearly two weeks ago.
In addition to the lewd text message, Assistant Chief Perciavalle was also charged with secretly recording a conversation with Chief Couch on March 2, the same day that Pennsylvania State Police executed a search warrant on Aliquippa city offices in connection with a grand jury investigation into allegations of theft.
Chief Couch was placed on leave on June 6 for an unspecified reason and remains on leave.
Assistant Chief Perciavalle was accused of recording a 39-minute conversation with the chief without his consent. In Pennsylvania, one person cannot record a conversation with another person without both people’s permission.
Mr. Townsend said his client denies all wrongdoing.
“I think once we have the preliminary hearing it will be clear this was politically motivated,” Mr. Townsend said.
Beaver County’s court administration office has contacted the county’s other district judges to find one who is able to hear the cases and does not have a conflict of interest, Deputy Court Administrator Aileen M. Bowers said.
Ms. Bowers said she did not know why District Judge Swihart’s recused.
"She was not aware that this case was scheduled for today, so she took her normal turn in the central court rotation and discovered that this case was on, and she said to me, ‘I’ve got to recuse myself.’ I don’t know the nature of the relationship, but I take it [the recusal] at face value.”
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury on Twitter. Staff writer Jonathan D. Silver contributed.
First Published: October 23, 2018, 5:48 p.m.
